normalizing sexually abusive behavior in the public sphere

It’s possible to believe that Donald Trump, our president, has said and done vile things when it comes to women AND believe that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is also a pervert who abused his power to gain sexual gratification from women. It truly doesn’t have to be an either-or scenario. Both thoughts can coexist in the thinking mind.

That being said, Trump has been POTUS since January, and only a serious (and I use that word *very* loosely) candidate for ~18 months. I didn’t vote for him, and am not crazy he’s my president. Never will be. But I’m able to praise when he does good (e.g. recent changes to contraceptive mandate: good) and criticize him when he does bad. Because I’m a rational, mostly level-headed adult.

But I see so many celebrities saying Trump’s election “normalized” sexually abusive behavior in the public sphere.

Um…how long ago did y’all know about Harvey and say or do nothing? Who spiked a NYT story a decade ago to protect the lucrative film money?

Trump is a symptom, not a cause, of the deviant sexual predator behaviors normalized by Hollywood, tacitly, if not publicly. (Trump is a product of Hollywood, too.)

After all, Meryl Streep likened Harvey to GOD. Many have said it was an open secret: one they chose not to act on until the public outcry became too loud. So while Harvey was defiling houseplants and traumatizing actresses, they said and did NOTHING.

Then say the voters who elected Trump — borne of the culture they created — have “normalized” such behavior.

No, it’s the other way around.

Donald Trump, as President or real estate mogul or would-be entertainer, is a manifestation of our societal vices and tendencies, not a cause. I’m disinclined to say “this shit happens” because people carry real guilt and genuine responsibility. Yet if Weinstein and the Donald were the first to be lecherous and powerful people… I really cannot remember what social theory I was going to compose to end this sentence. The idea that Weinstein and Trump were the first business men to be lecherous and powerful both together is just the most ridiculous alternate reality imaginable.

I wonder if “lecherous” is under-descriptive considering the allegation is of a sort of professional and sexual violation.